PeenissEverlark Baby OneShot
by halmerny
Summary: Katniss finally decided to have a baby with Peeta.
1. Chapter 1

Peeniss/Everlark Baby One-Shot

I sit by the lake my father and I used to visit when I was a little girl. It seemed so far away, all of it. I sat there staring at the lake water for a while. It was so long ago, yet the memory was still fresh in my head. I think about what life would've been like if my mother and father never met. If they hadn't decided to get married and have kids. I would never be here, and Peeta would be with someone else. Someone that can give him what he wants.

I shiver slightly, the cool air gliding against my skin. The sun had set, and I had watched it set alone. It was the first time I had watched the sun set by myself since Peeta returned to district 12. Ever since he and I started dating—or whatever you want to call it— we agreed that every night, we'd go outside and watch the sunset together. It was his favorite thing in the world.

And today, today I watched it alone. Without him. My chest tightens, and I suddenly feel sick. I had told him I'd be home hours ago, but I couldn't will myself to walk home and see the look of disappointment, of something missing, on his face again. He'd been begging me to have a baby, but I just couldn't do it. I can see the pain in his eyes every time he looks at me.

"I just don't see why we have to bring kids into this world," I had said to him one night when we were having the same discussion we always had. "We have each other, isn't that enough?" And he just shook his head, clearly trying to control his anger.

"You're enough for me, you know that. I love you. But us having kids… They would be both apart of me and you. They'll be us, Katniss," he had replied in his soft voice that was impossible to refuse. I got up and darted upstairs out of frustration, and he followed me into our bedroom and held me until I fell asleep.

Now, now that I look out into the lake—the lake my father used to take me to so many times when I was a kid—I can't help but wonder what it would be like to bring my children here. To teach them how to swim. To spend Sundays teaching them how to hunt or watching Peeta showing them how to bake. My throat tightens and my vision gets blurry.

After about another hour, when it was dark outside, I decide I need to go home. Peeta will be worried about me. I grab my game bag and wrap my father's old hunting jacket around me. The walk back to our house isn't that long—I have to pass by the meadow to get there, and I still can't shake the memory of what lies beneath—I make it home in less than thirty minutes. When I open the door, I see Peeta sitting on the couch, staring at the fire he had built in the fire place.

"I watched the sunset alone," he said, not bothering to look at me, and I felt a pang in my chest.

"Peeta…" I struggled for words, but they wouldn't come. My voice cracked at his name, and I went to sit by him. He still wouldn't look at me. He was playing with something in his hand, something that I couldn't quite make out. I took a closer look, and my heart dropped to my stomach. It was the pearl he gave me in the arena—I had given it back to him a few months after we were back in District 12. "Peeta, I've been thinking, by the lake…"

"Remember when I couldn't remember how much I loved you? When I would state something and have you tell me if it was real or not real?" He sounded anxious, like he's been waiting all day to talk to me. Suddenly I regretted staying out that late in the woods. I nodded my head, then remembered he still wasn't looking at me.

"Yes."

"I think I should play that game again, because there are some things that I'm confused about." And with that, he looked up at me. His gaze was painful, you can tell he'd been crying, or trying really hard not to, for quite some time. I nodded my head, not wanting to say anything that would upset him. "You still love me. Real or not real?"

"Real," I whispered, answering almost as soon as he asked.

"You want to spend the rest of your life with me. Real or not real?"

"Real. Peeta, why are you—"

"Just wait," he cut me off. "You want me to be happy. Real or not real?"

"Real," I answered with growing patience.

"You want to have a baby with me. Real or not real?"

"Real," I replied, and everything about his expression transformed into one of shock, relief, and complete and utter happiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Peeniss/Everlark Baby One Shot Part Two

He opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it. Instead, he flung his arms around me, and we stood in a warm embrace for a few minutes. Finally, he pulled away, his expression soft and loving. He raised one eyebrow, but nothing about his expression changed. "What changed?" he asked, and for a moment I had forgotten I ever declined him of having a baby. He was so happy, so incredibly happy, that it made my heart skip a beat. I had almost forgotten what it was like to see him like this.

"I was thinking, by the lake, about how my father used to take me there." The mention of my father's name would usually be painful, but it wasn't possible for anything to ruin the overwhelming joy that swept over me when I saw Peeta's face. "And I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to take my kids there, to teach them how to swim, to show them how to hunt," my smile grew wider, and Peeta softly brushed the back of his hand against my cheek. "And then I thought of you, showing your kids how to bake. Seeing the look on their face when they finally perfect a recipe." Peeta said nothing, he just smiled at me and held me tighter. He was looking into my eyes, and he didn't have to speak for me to know what he was thinking. "You're going to be a great father, you know."

"I love you," he finally spoke, and when he did, his voice was softer than I had ever heard it. He leaned in, gently brushing his lips against mine, and held the kiss only for a moment. He moved his hand down to my stomach, holding it there. "And you're going to be an amazing mother." A memory tugged at the back of my mind, a memory that I've been trying to keep out for years. It was a good memory, but it belonged to a terrible story. Suddenly I was back in the arena, and Peeta was convincing me that he should die and I should live. He put his hand on my stomach and told me that I would make a great mother someday.

But he was putting on a show back then, and this was real. This time, I'm not a seventeen-year-old girl who's acting desperately in love with someone—not to mention pregnant with his baby—in order to survive. I _am_ in love with Peeta, and I would do anything I can to make him happy. He read the expression on my face, and I felt his body tense against mine.

"Don't do this just for me," he murmured, his arms still around me. "I want you to want to have a baby with me."

"I do want to," I replied, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I want to have kids with you, Peeta. I want to watch them grow up, I want to teach them what my father taught me. I want you to teach them how to bake and paint and I want them to be exactly like you."

"And you," he added, and I just shook my head. Suddenly I could hear Haymitch's words echoing in my head. _You could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him._ It was true. Peeta had loved me since he first met me, and then he loved me again even though his brain was hijacked and he was made to believe I was dangerous. And I had treated him so terribly. I hadn't appreciated Peeta the way I do now. I'll never be able to stop owing him for everything he has done for me.

"They should be more like you," I responded, my voice unsteady. "You have better qualities than I do." My eyes were still locked on his, but there was now a blankness in his eyes. I could tell my words were upsetting him, so I tried to change the subject. "Anyway, we should sleep, Peeta. It's late, and—"

"You're perfect to me," he interrupted, and the blankness was gone. His gaze was so intense that I closed my mouth, letting him speak. "After all this time, you still don't know the effect you can have." His mouth twitched into a slight smirk—so slight it was almost like it wasn't there. And then his mouth was on mine, and my eyes had closed shut. The softness of his lips against mine was gone, replaced by passion that made me know he wasn't going to pull away anytime soon. I kissed him back just as intensely, letting my body and mind relax at his touch. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his fingers were tangled in my hair.

Suddenly my back was pressed against the arm of the couch, and I leaned back and lied down; he moved with me like a magnet, our lips never parting. He slid my hunting jacket off, followed by my shirt, and I took his shirt off, tossing it aside. Our lips connected again and we were kissing more passionately than before. Before I knew it, all our clothes were off and we were both panting heavily against each other's lips, breathless from all the kissing. He parted our lips, but kept his forehead against mine. I could feel his warm breath against my chin, and it sent goosebumps all over my bare body.

"You think it's time to make a baby. Real or not real?" he whispered, his lips inches from mine.

"Real," I replied in a soft whisper, just loud enough for him to hear, and his lips were immediately back on mine.


End file.
